Just one of the most bizarre situations and it might have been all started with the fact that we had won the last two big tournaments and we went back with the same management and coaching. Gretzky and Lowe did well in 2002, and pretty good in 2004 although there was some questionable picks. But by 2006 you need to shake it up. Mike Keenan won both of his Canada Cups but they still didn't pick him a 3rd time. Yes they picked Babcock three times but Yzerman was picking the teams in 2010 and 2014 and by 2016 it was a whole new crew, so that got shaken up. With 2006 you had Quinn coaching again and Gretzky and Lowe picking the teams again. It is like a politician that stays too long, he's eventually going to give a lot of sweet deals to his buddies.
It all started with Gretzky going overboard by saying Lemieux and Yzerman have a spot for them on the team. Okay, now hold on. What? Look, Lemieux on the power play alone might be worth it, but he's 40, the big ice might hurt him and he was banged up by now. He barely played in the 2005-'06 season and to be honest I am not sure if he doesn't retire in January that he isn't on that team. Yzerman was wise enough to abdicate and let someone else take his place. Other than that Gretzky is picking him. Why? So luckily that never came to fruition.
Then there was the Bertuzzi thing. I figured with the big ice and the Moore incident still fresh in people's minds that he isn't making the team. Even early in the season you can see he has lost a step, but then he goes on a tear and it is right before they announce the team and Gretzky put him on there. That alone was a bad look. It gave the team that division right away. Then there was the betting scandal with Rick Tocchet and you had Janet Gretzky being implicated. Nothing came of it, but this happens right in January of 2006 before the Olympics. It just gave the whole pre-tournament vibe a big shake up, and not in a good way.
Onto the team selections. Nothing wrong with the goaltending. Brodeur, Luongo and Turco. You can nitpick about Turco, but he was alright, and you already had two star goalies who were going to be ahead of him, so he wasn't seeing ice time.
Then the defense. Hmmm. Where to start? On the surface it looked alright. Redden, Pronger, Blake, Foote, Bouwmeester, McCabe, Regehr. However, we missed Niedermayer to injury, and McCabe was the one added in. Why not Boyle? At least he was the closest out of anyone to rushing the puck like Niedermayer. And plus Boyle played excellent in 2010. Blake is probably too old at this point, the ice is big, and Regehr and Foote don't both need to be there. Take at least one out. I'd have actually made room for Phaneuf as he was young and enthusiastic and had already made a name for himself.
But up front we made the most mistakes. Gretzky was too loyal to guys he shouldn't have been. He brings back Doan and Draper from 2004 and there is just so much better options, especially over Draper. The whole Doan, Draper, Smyth, Bertuzzi quartet was too much. You need sandpaper yes, but this is also the big ice and even in the smaller ice we only left room for Morrow in 2010 as that type of guy. You don't need 4 of them. I'd have taken at least Draper and Bertuzzi off and put in Crosby and Staal. Crosby is your x-factor and I think he thrives and in a year he is the best player in the NHL. Staal had the best year of his career and he was still good enough to be on the team in 2010. Put them on there! That leaves Doan and Smyth. Do you take one of them off and put in more speed and skill? Kariya comes to mind even if he had lost a step. Spezza is a potential guy too although I like Crosby and Staal in there a lot better.
But honestly, just the addition of Boyle on the back end, Crosby up the middle and Staal somewhere on the wing and this team is made up far differently. With that being said, even with the roster selections we still should have won. That's a lot of skill on that team. The Lightning trio, Thornton, Heatley, Iginla, Gagne, etc. Sakic is older at this time and I am not sure him being the captain did much. I guess I'd pick him too, but this team never seemed together. The thing that I have put my finger on with this team is that they didnt play as a team. They played as individuals. This is why they got shutout by the Swiss. That and at the end of the day there still were some guys who didn't do well in pressure situations that we didn't know about yet. Thornton, Heatley, Nash come to mind as guys who were never playoff warriors. Sakic wasn't the one you depended on anymore either. This team was just a mess.